


Out of Hiding

by thatoneperson



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Cosmic Horrors, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-03-08 16:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18898318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoneperson/pseuds/thatoneperson
Summary: Moomin makes a new friend who makes him think about friendship, Snufkin, and friendship with Snufkin.





	1. Chapter 1

Moomin was currently regretting coming out to this forest. It would have, perhaps, been better if he’d remembered to bring the good lantern instead of this silly flickering thing, but he was too far to turn back now. He was also maybe a little bit turned around, but he’d find his way again soon enough. 

Moomin froze. There was a rustle in the bushes in front of him. Moomin’s eyes darted wildly around the forest to find the creature responsible. He _had_ to stop letting Little My goad him into things! The bushes rustled again. Moomin silently swore an oath to generally listen to Little My less. The dark silhouette of a perfectly normal sized human figure wearing a very large hat emerged from the brush.

"Oh!" said Moomin, clutching his chest. "Snufkin, is that you?" Moomin felt the something tightly coiled in his chest loosen into a fond warmth. 

"Yes," rasped Snufkin after a long pause. "I am Snufkin."

Well, that wasn't like Snufkin at all. "Are you sick?" Moomin worriedly reach out towards where he thought Snufkin might be. His hand clasped around empty air.

"I am empty," agreed Snufkin flatly. 

Moomin felt his heart stop. "Oh, _Snufkin_ ," he wailed. "Oh no, oh Snufkin." His mind whirled with a thousand useless ideas. Snufkin was here, and in pain. Oh goodness, what to do? What to do? What comforted Snufkin? His heart jumped into his throat. 

"Should I leave you alone?" asked Moomin, his voice squeaky with panic. "No, that's an awful idea? Should I find some tea?"

There was only silence.

"Maybe no tea, then.” He cleared his throat. “It might be hard to find in the forest anyway,” he joked weakly.

Snufkin watched Moomin with a curious tilt to his head, like Moomin was currently doing something odd instead of taking care of his friend. Trying to take care of his friend. Failing to take care of his friend. 

Moomin fiddled nervously with his hands. Moominmama always gave him tea when he came to her with his problems. Moominmama always knew just what to do. 

"I'll get Mama!!" he announced loudly. "Mama's always got the cure," he assured Snufkin. Moomin began his scramble towards where his house probably was. 

"Don't... leave," said Snufkin hesitantly. The lantern flickered out completely, and then Moomin would’ve sworn that in the faint moonlight he saw Snufkin slowly reaching out towards Moomin, before quickly retracting his hand. 

Moomin's heart began to beat a little faster. Even under the circumstances, it was so very nice to have Snufkin want him around. 

"Of course!" Moomin felt a bit guilty about how happy he sounded, but if that was really what Snufkin wanted... "If you want me here, then I won't ever leave."

He tried to reach out once again for Snufkin, but he’d failed finding him even with the lantern light. In this murky darkness it would’ve taken a miracle for Moomin to get close. 

"I should fix this awful lantern," he mumbled half to himself. "It's just too dark out here!"

"No!" said Snufkin with the most emotion he'd shown all night. "No. We should remain in the dark."

Moomin was well past worried. "Alright," said Moomin gently. "Whatever you need." Snufkin could ask for a fresh spring flower at this point and Moomin would begin a quest to find the only one in all of autumn. Well, to be fair, Moomin would do most anything for Snufkin at any point in the year. Moomin always wanted to be there for Snufkin, in whatever way he could. Now it was just a touch more urgent than usual day to day. 

Moomin thought he saw Snufkin's hand moving ever so slightly closer. "Would you like to hold hands?" He held his hand out, this time not reaching, but simply waiting for Snufkin.

Snufkin's hand felt cold and weirdly light in his own, like some vital part of Snufkin had been taken out and all that was left was a shell around a dreadful emptiness. The panic wound tighter around Moomin's chest and he took a moment to remember how to breathe. 

"You are open. I can see all of who you are and all of who you have been," Snufkin intoned. His hand was clenched tightly around Moomin's own. 

"Uh," mumbled Moomin. "Well, I suppose? You were there for... much of my life?" Maybe Moomin should get Moominmama, whether or not Snufkin wanted her. It seemed like whatever was happening was much too serious for Moomin alone. 

"It is nice," Snufkin whispered, his harsh rasping gentled by the quiet of the admission. 

"Ah, thank you?" said Moomin, baffled and pleased in equal measures. Snufkin was being _so weird_ tonight. Some parts of it were nice, though. He clasped Snufkin's frigid hand between his hands and attempted to rub some warmth back into Snufkin. 

Moomin felt a gentle pressure like the winter breeze press against his side. He looked down at what was most likely the lopsided brim of Snufkin's hat as Snufkin curled up against him. 

"Snufkin?" asked Moomin around the heart beating a tattoo up against his throat. "Would you like to spend the night at my house?”

Snufkin went still as the grave against Moomin's fur. Moomin felt his heart petrify in his throat; the weight of it crushing his voice as he went to apologize. 

"I could stay here instead!" he blurted after several spluttered attempts. "We don't have to go anywhere!"

Snufkin relaxed into Moomin's fur again and Moomin's heart settled back into its proper place in his chest at last. 

“I might be a bit lost anyway,” admitted Moomin quietly. He could feel Snufkin’s answering laugh rumbling through his chest. He hid his smile against Snufkin’s frigid hat. 

Oh wow, all of Snufkin was so very cold. He pulled his friend in closer and tried to wrap Snufkin up in as much of his warmth as he could, which was quite a lot, Moomin liked to think. A moomin wasn’t a moomin unless they could give good, warm hugs. 

Moomin enjoyed being a good moomin and a good friend, but he also enjoyed sleeping in the comfort of a tent, at absolute minimum.

“Snufkin, where’s your camp?” Moomin gently prodded Snufkin to awakeness, if not alertness.

“I may lay no roots nor know any rest,” Snufkin mumbled around his yawns.

“Alright,” said Moomin with a fond indulgence usually reserved for the nonsense of toddlers, “but where is your tent?”

“I have taken no tent.” Snufkin stretched lightly against Moomin. “I make my own space in the world.”

Moomin frowned and gently patted Snufkin’s back. “Oh Snufkin, you lost your tent? I’m so sorry.” Moomin wished very badly Snufkin would just let Moomin give him all the care he deserved. It was absolutely no good to be out in the forest at night without even a tent!

“You cannot lose that which was never yours to own.” Moomin felt Snufkin tracing some idle patterns against his fur and had to repress some inappropriate giggles as Snufkin’s hands danced across his rib cage. Snufkin has lost his home! Now was not the time for laughing, or questioning Snufkin’s unique philosophies either. Maybe grief had done this to him? Whatever the cause, now was the time to support Snufkin. 

“Still, I’m sorry you don’t have a tent to sleep in anymore. Even if you want to be alone sometimes, you should still be able to get comfortable!” 

Moomin could feel Snufkin’s silent laughter against his fur. “You are beyond precious.”

“Wh- _Snufkin_?” squawked Moomin, all his thoughts scattering like birds before a cat. 

Snufkin hummed agreeably. “That is me. I will remain Snufkin, I think. I like being Snufkin.”

Moomin took a moment to puzzle out what in the great blue above could Snufkin be talking about, but gave it up as a lost cause. “I’m… glad you’ll still be Snufkin?” he tried hesitantly. 

“I know. When you wake, I will be Snufkin for you. Sleep well, Moomin.” Snufkin put a hand over Moomin’s eyes, and before he could ask any of his many questions, Moomin slept.

——————————————

Moomin woke up very confused, but safe and warm in his own bed. Had _Snufkin_ carried him back? _Snufkin?_ Had he dreamt the whole encounter? It was rather unreal...

As Moomin sorted out his thoughts, a tiny, insignificant bit of air floating in Moomin’s room ceased to exist. Several other bits of space were similarly devoured, and it all became a bit more noticeable. Moomin watched in horror as the open space in the corner of his room split open and a writhing void oozed out.

“Moomin,” it rasped.

“PAPA, MAMA, _HELP!_ ,” screamed Moomin.

“Be not afraid,” it rasped slightly louder, slipping further back into the corner.

“I, I’m not afraid of you!” Moomin said, scrambling up against the wall. 

There was a sound like the wind whistling through the mountain tops and the pulsating void seemed to droop for a moment before it wrapped itself into a single, still form that almost looked like Snufkin’s shadow. 

"I am Snufkin," offered the shadowed figure through their unmoving mouth, sounding almost helpless. 

“What?” asked Moomin, confusion draining away his fear. “But Snufkin isn’t much like you at all.”

“Last night,” prompted the other Snufkin. “I was last night’s Snufkin.”

"O-oh!" Understanding, quickly followed by embarrassment flooded through Moomin. He felt heat building in his cheeks. "Uh, then I was very forward last night. I apologize. I thought you were my Snufkin." Moomin remembered trying to hold this stranger's hand three times within moments of meeting them, and then inviting them to stay the night with him. He was abruptly jealous of the other Snufkin’s ability to melt in on himself and merge with the floor.

The other Snufkin laughed and a strange echo of laughter followed them. "Do not apologize. I took what was not mine to have." They shrugged. "It is how I survive."

"That's... not very nice." Moomin frowned, thinking of all the things he would be upset to lose. He looked around his room, at the things his papa had given him, at the things his mama had given him, and took a brief moment to bask in the warmth of having so much to lose, but not having lost any of it.

"I am not very nice," agreed the other Snufkin, snapping Moomin back into the moment. They looked at Moomin with the kind of quiet focus Moomin had really only felt from Snufkin, the real Snufkin, before. It was unsettling to be so regarded by someone with so few clearly defined features. 

"You are very nice," rasped the other Snufkin gently, "and I am... not accustomed to kindness. I could not have resisted you, even if I wanted to." The creeping void of their form was beginning to stain his room. Moomin was going to have to repaint after this. 

"Oh," said Moomin, dumbfounded. "Wait, 'not accustomed to kindness'?" he repeated a moment later in a slightly higher pitch. 

"I am not kind," reminded the other Snufkin as fangs grew in their open mouth. 

"Ew," said Moomin with a shudder, before visibly refocusing on the issue at hand. "But that's terrible! Everyone should know kindness in their life!" He waved his hands in frantic distress. 

The figure closed their gaping maw of teeth into a sly grin. "You would have me keep your kindness in my life?"

Moomin looked over the humanoid hole in the fabric of existence grinning in his bedroom. It was scary, certainly, but it mostly seemed lonely and unwilling to express its feelings. That was nothing new to Moomin. 

“Everybody deserves a friend,” said Moomin with a quiet certainty, “and if you can’t find anyone else, then I’ll be your first.”

There was a certain solemnity to the rhythmic pulsing of the stranger’s existence in that moment. “Thank you, Moomin. We will surely be the best of friends.”

“Ah, speaking of best of friends, we should go see Snufkin!” A moment of consideration passed. “The not you Snufkin. The first Snufkin.”

“You may call me The Second, if you so prefer,” said the other Snufkin, clearly amused. 

“Alright, Second. Let’s go see Snufkin!” Moomin opened his door to an unfathomable abyss and slammed the door shut. 

“My apologies.” said The Second. “I needed to be sure we were not interrupted, and I quite forgot to turn it off. Try again.”

Moomin nodded his acceptance and cautiously opened the door once more. It opened to only the familiar hallway of his house. “Oh thank goodness,” sighed Moomin. “Let’s go!” he said with renewed enthusiasm, and so they set off.


	2. Chapter 2

Snufkin was sitting perched on a log, admiring the tranquil song of leaves rusting and birds chirping when Moomin found him. 

“Snufkin!” said Moomin, launching himself across the path. It was Snufkin! The real Snufkin! The safe, familiar Snufkin lounging happily in the sunlight. It was a sight to make a grown moomin cry.

“Moomintroll,” said Snufkin with a quieter fondness. 

“Oh right,” said Moomin sheepishly. “Snufkin,” he said much more calmly. Moomin leaned with ostentatious casualness against a tree to hide just how hard his heart was beating. “I made a new friend last night.”

“Oh?” Snufkin pulled the brim of his hat high enough that Moomin could see his eyes again. "Who's your new friend?"

"They're-" Moomin turned around to introduce The Second, only to find them missing. "Oh, they were right here a bit ago? I get the feeling they don't always exist, strictly speaking." Still, Moomin leaned back the way he'd came, trying to catch a glimpse of something eerie rustling the branches or an ill-fitting patch of darkness. 

Well, Moomin supposed he could tell Snufkin just as well about the whole adventure even without The Second there. He turned around. 

The unending abyss stared into the deepest parts of Moomin's soul. 

"Oh, goodness!" said Moomin, skittering back. "Second! You scared the living daylights out of me!"

The Second's body shook with silent laughter, his form coming apart at the edges in swirling wisps of nothingness. "That was not true fear," cackled The Second. "Trust in this, dear Moomin. I know fear as a fire knows burning."

"Right," said Moomin, deciding not to think too hard about that. He looked to Snufkin, who had also been a bit startled by The Second's appearance. Snufkin was still sitting on the log, but there was nothing relaxed anymore in the tense draw of his shoulders or the narrowed slits of his eyes peeking out from behind his hat. This was probably not the best way to start this introduction, but Moomin supposed that what was done was done. 

"Snufkin, this is Snufkin the Second, or Second for short. They're my new friend," said Moomin as he tried to and mostly succeeded in pulling The Second into general introductory distance. 

"Please, call me The Second." The Second pulled their open, empty mouth into a smile. "I enjoy the way it moves through the space it inhabits."

"The Second," said Moomin, smiling brightly, "this is Snufkin! He's my dearest friend."

Snufkin tilted his hat back and looked at The Second in the general range of where their eyes would be with a weighty seriousness. "Well, it's a- an experience to meet you, The Second." Snufkin made no move to shake one of The Second's hand-shaped appendages, or get any closer at all. 

"Many things are experiences," agreed The Second cheerfully. "You will have several more before your mortality claims you." They too moved no closer. 

"Right!" said Moomin loudly. "Well, I wanted you to meet them first, because..." Moomin stopped to consider why he had immediately come to Snufkin with The Second. "Because you are my friend and I enjoy telling you about my life," said Moomin, deciding not to tell Snufkin about the part where The Second had pretended to be Snufkin for a while. That could possibly go over poorly right at introduction. 

Snufkin coughed quietly and slouched back down on the log. Moomin was mostly sure that if Snufkin wasn't busy hiding his face, he'd look both embarrassed and pleased. It was good fun to catch Snufkin in this mood, but unfortunately, Moomin had other things to do at the moment. 

"We should go back and see Mama," said Moomin firmly. "If you're going to keep popping up in my room, she needs to know you."

"If they're going to what?" cut in Snufkin, alarmed. "Moomin, this- Second knows where you live?" Snufkin was rail straight on the log again and all former traces of his pleased shyness had vanished. What a shame, thought Moomin. 

"I know many things." The Second's grin split their face in half like a grotesque doll.

"Yes, of course Snufkin," said Moomin lightly at near the same time. "The Second brought me home when they found me in the woods last night!"

"Oh," wheezed Snufkin quietly.

"Fear not, First Snufkin," rasped The Second. "I will guard dear Moomin's domicile to ensure the eyes of my own slide past it."

"Well, then!" wheezed Snufkin, now with a greater note of urgency. He was starting to look a little frayed at the edges. 

“Snufkin?” asked Moomin, carefully edging himself between Snufkin and The Second. "Are you okay?"

Snufkin was definitely not okay. He had that particular far-off stare he got when something was being altogether too much. If this were a party, Snufkin would already be gone. 

"Snufkin, it's really fine! The Second has been nothing but lovely!" said Moomin earnestly. "In their own, special way," amended Moomin upon considering his actual experiences with The Second. 

"Am I special to you, Moomin?" asked The Second, delightedly.

"Yes," said Moomin immediately, "I can quite honestly say I've never met anyone like you in my life."

Snufkin watched this interaction play out with a guarded, judging look. That was probably a good sign. At least Snufkin was willing to watch and listen. Maybe Snufkin and The Second could learn to get along later, after all. 

"You hold no power to prevent anything I would set in motion," The Second told Snufkin with all the gravity one might use to chat about the weather. "Whatever guard you choose to take against me or not is irrelevant at best."

Snufkin was gritting his teeth so tightly it seemed that Moomin could hear the creaking. Snufkin did not enjoy being told that his actions were meaningless. Though to be fair, it was the rare soul that enjoyed being told their fate was held in another's palms. 

"But that won't matter because we're friends here and no one is hurting anyone," announced Moomin loudly. "Right, The Second?"

The Second's skin rippled in what was most likely a chuckle. "Of course. Moominvalley and its people will know nothing but the peace to which they are accustomed."

"And everything outside of the valley?" asked Snufkin pointedly. 

The Second's chaotic form stilled into a looming mass of emptiness and they said nothing.

“Right," said Snufkin. "As long as we all know where we stand."

The Second had begun lazily spinning in upon themselves in a dizzying spiral of darkness, and Moomin had the distinct feeling that giving them time to say whatever was on their mind was absolutely terrible idea. 

"Let's go to Mama right now," said Moomin, grabbing at the most tangible areas of The Second. "Immediately, even! No sense in keeping Mama waiting."

"Would you mind some company?" asked Snufkin, tapping his pipe thoughtfully. 

"Your company is always welcome!" Moomin looked up from where The Second was grabbing his arm up to the elbow with just their entire body. It wasn't super pleasant to look at anyway. Snufkin was much better. Having the original Snufkin wanting to spend time with him was always worth all of Moomin's attention.

Something in Snufkin's demeanour softened as Moomin beamed up at him from his sudden play-wrestling with The Second. He sighed, stretched, and walked over to pull Moomin from The Second's grasp. It wasn't easy work, but eventually The Second found their efforts amusing enough to let Moomin go.

They set off with only minor scrapes and muffled grumbling, and found their way to the Moominhouse easily enough. Moominmamma also found them quite easily.

"Who's your new friend, Moomin?" asked Moominmamma with the baffled friendliness of someone who would've never expected this situation but would nonetheless keel over before she was rude to her son's friend. The Second bobbed it's body in an oddly jellyfish-like wave. 

"This is The Second!" Moomin grabbed at the nearest appendage-shaped growth coming from The Second and held up the point where their physical forms met. "They brought me home from the forest last night when I got lost."

"Oh, how lovely." Moominmamma beamed at her son's new friend. "I'm glad my little Moomintroll has such a reliable friend." 

Snufkin stood off to the side with the glazed look of a man contemplating their life choices and how those choices led to the situation he found himself in.

"I am gratified to be Moomin's friend," said The Second in their usual rasp. "He is a brightly burning star in the expanses of eternity and I will hold his memory when he has burned out."

"It is nice to be remembered," said Moominmamma lightly. "Would you like to come in?" she offered, holding open the door. 

Snufkin made a muffled noise in the back of his throat and hid his face down in the folds of his scarf. Moomin had a brief moment of worry that Snufkin was getting sick and made a mental note to watch out for Snufkin's health.

The lazy ripples of The Second's form grew faster as it loomed into the Moominhouse. 

“Although I require no sustenance, I would like to feel its existence cease within me." They crossed the threshold of the Moominhouse. The Second's edges gentled into curling wisps of void. 

"We should all enjoy the little things in life," agreed Moominmamma companionably. She ducked past all the aimless tendrils of The Second's emptiness and disappeared into the house. "Would you like some toast with jam?" Her voice called out from the house.

"Jam sounds lovely." The Second compressed themselves in a bizarre series of twists that felt somewhat akin to watching a plate wobbling on the edge of a shelf and tucked themselves onto the couch.

Snufkin was staring out into space again.

"Are you quite alright, Snufkin?" Moomin hovered hesitantly at the edge of Snufkin's personal space bubble and wrung his hands.

"Just fine, Moomintroll," Snufkin said with the airy assurance of someone who wasn't quite home right now. 

Moomin hummed doubtfully, but in the end decided not to press. This had been an unusual day. Snufkin was entitled to some unusual behavior. Still, he gently laced his hand into Snufkin's own and walked them both into the Moominhouse. There was no sense in standing out in the open when they had a friend to entertain inside!

There was also tea inside, which was perhaps something Snufkin could benefit from at the given moment. Moomin put his head in the kitchen to ask, but Moominmamma already had the kettle on. Moomin really was so lucky to have out of all the mothers in the world, a Moominmamma of his very own. 

He basked in the floaty happiness he felt everytime he looked for his parents and found them, but only for a few moments. He had to help Moominmamma carry the refreshments out, after all. 

"We come bearing jam," cheered Moomin as he barged into the living room. He set his tray within easy reach of his friends before plopping himself down next to Snufkin. 

The Second wrapped around a cookie and Moomin watched the food dissolve bit by bit into The Second's darkness. 

"You have my thanks," said The Second in their usual rasp before it gained the faintest echo of many voices speaking in unison. "You have created a moment I will not erase."

"You're very welcome," said Moominmamma as Moomin nodded agreeably. 

Snufkin seemed to be coming back to himself a bit as he drained the tea that Moominmamma had placed in his hands. Moomin nodded, satisfied. Moominmamma always knew just what to do to make a situation better. 

With Snufkin heading back to his usual self, Moomin had enough space in his thoughts to remember why they'd come home at all. 

"Oh, Mama!" Moomin called across the room. "The Second wants to visit our house from time to time and I wanted to let you know they'll just be here sometimes."

"Thank you for the warning, darling," said Moominmamma absently. "I'll warn Papa."

"Thanks, Mama!" Moomin began orbiting Snufkin with snacks and stories and whatever other distractions he could think of to make Snufkin happy. He included The Second too, of course, but mostly The Second watched them, pulsing to the rhythm of a sleeping heartbeat. Moomin found it quite relaxing, but Snufkin never quite stopped watching The Second back. Perhaps it wasn't the easiest of ways to pass an afternoon, but Moomin nevertheless had fun, and he liked to think his friends did too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is chapter two of moomin's fun adventure times with his unknowable cosmic horror buddy! i hope you enjoy~ also it is completely unbetaed so be gentle
> 
> also i caught bronchitis hiking in the rain and also i'm moving continents in june so uh i've been a bit stressed and tired and probs will be through july. i wouldn't expect a lot from me before july, but hopefully i'll be in a more creative mood when i'm healthy and lots of free time haha


	3. Chapter 3

Moomin was by now well used to The Second popping in and out as they pleased like an oversized cat, but he was not quite so used to waking to their looming. 

"Good morning," wheezed Moomin as he untangled himself from his sheets. 

"Would it make you happy to hold the knowledge in your heart that your parents could never be lost?" The Second asked from an unreasonably close distance.

Moomin put his hand against his face and hummed thoughtfully. The Second had good intentions, he was sure, but Moomin had found sometimes their actions didn't really consider things a moomin would know to be important, like safety or privacy. 

"It would," said Moomin slowly. He couldn’t very well lie to The Second, and it did make him feel safer when he knew where his parents were. 

"I could bind their souls to this house," The Second said with all the barely suppressed excitement of a child sharing someone else's secrets. "They would never be far from where you've lain your heart to rest."

Moomin's face scrunched up as he looked up towards The Second's looming form. "Past evidence proves that my getting lost would be more of a problem, especially since Papa doesn't quite adventure like he used to." His tail thumped a slow, distractingly irregular beat against the floor. "I don't think it would make them very happy either."

It was a bit disconcerting, even after all this time, to watch the morning sunlight streaming through his window disappear into the stillness of The Second. 

"You have made your happiness dependant on theirs?" asked The Second with obvious disappointment. 

"Yes?" asked Moomin, drawing the word out as though to check his own answer, or perhaps the question. 

The Second gave his darkness the shape of an eyeless face to stare at Moomin. Moomin stared back and wondered if this was akin to a mumrik challenge or closer to a sign of affection. Moomin hoped it was the latter. 

"You love your parents," they said, tasting each word as it fell. 

"Well, yes. Obviously." Moomin officially had no idea where this conversation was going. 

"It would make you sad to lose them."

"Yes? That does tend to be a part of love.” Moomin put a comforting hand on the most solid patch of The Second he could reach. They seemed to be having a hard time today. 

The second gave a wobbling huff with the whole of their body. “You are haunted by the thought of losing your loved ones, but keeping them would not bring you joy?” Their confusion and frustration was eminently clear in their voice, even if their face had gone featureless and smooth again.

“Well, no, of course not!” Moomin scooched close enough to The Second to be in a vaguely supportive. “You can’t trap the people you care for. That’s not how love works at all.”

The Second sank back in upon themselves and went quiet for a good while. Moomin took advantage of the time to make his bed and set the lamp he’d knocked over in his flailing back upon the nightstand. 

Moomin eyed The Second speculatively. He probably had enough time during his friend’s contemplation to take his dirty cup down to the couch. Moomin knew better than to let his dishes pile up. Last time, he’d broken a bowl trying to carry all his dishes down to their proper place. 

He returned to find The Second still curled up and silent, and felt the warm glow of making the right choice. Now his room was all set to rights while his guest was there! He tried to carefully make his way around The Second’s absent thrashing.

“Do you love First Snufkin?”

Moomin felt a sharp pain run from his chin to his ribs as he tripped over a carefully piled stack of books on the floor. 

"Ow," Moomin whispered despairingly on the floor. It was a perfectly lovely floor, silent and supportive. Perhaps Moomin would just stay down here a bit. 

"Moomin?" The Second loomed with mounting concern over Moomin's still form. "Moomin? Are you damaged? Your form is held together by threads and meat, Moomin. It would take so little to unravel you."

"I'm fine; don't fuss," said Moomin into the floor. "But, really, must you talk of feelings like this?" Moomin could feel the confusion radiating off The Second without even turning around. "It is embarrassing to such personal things so... openly." 

The Second nodded their unseeing face agreeably. "It is strange that someone with so little time would choose to spend it hiding, but I will abide by your customs." 

Well, The Second was trying their best. "Thank you for your gracious abidance," Moomin said as he struggled up off the floor with a soft laugh. 

The Second went silent and still in that peculiar way of theirs that suggested they were thinking quite deeply. Moomin set about to restacking his fallen books. 

"Do you understand?" they asked in a thousand voices. "Do you understand the depths of my graciousness? It would take a mere breath to wipe your existence away, as dust is cleared from a mantleplace." Moomin's room began to shake with the pressure of The Second's existence. 

Oh, The Second was in one of _those_ moods. No wonder they had been so weirdly prying earlier. Moomin pulled a small bag of assorted nuts from his nightstand drawer and poured them gently into The Second's pulsating limbs.

"There's nothing to be gained from dramatics," Moomin said with the intonation of someone quoting an oft-heard phrase. "Have a snack." 

As suddenly as it came, the pressure faded into a gentle buzzing of awareness and The Second's writhing gentled to the listless sway of branches on a hot summer day. 

"Feel any better?" asked Moomin sympathetically. 

A roil of laughter started deep within The Second and rippled out. "You are a singular existence in an endless, uncaring abyss dotted with desperate repetitions."

"I'm glad to be your friend too, even if you are very strange sometimes." Moomin scooted casually out of range of any further dramatics with a fond pat in the general area The Second appeared to be. It could be a bit hard to tell when he couldn't precisely feel The Second most of the time. 

The Second reached out and curled their darkness against Moomin’s hand fondly. Moomin could feel the faint vibration of laughter through their joined appendages and was glad. He wasn’t quite sure _why_ The Second was laughing, but The Second had been experiencing what seemed to be a wide range of emotions today. Moomin was quite content to let their joy be felt without dissecting the root of it. It was just nice to have a quiet moment with his friend. Perhaps they could have another one outside of Moomin’s bedroom sometime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i thought i would have free time in july but whooo boy. wow was i wrong. it... should get better after july? i hope? ;w;
> 
> anyway thanks for sticking around despite the (likely repeated) delay! this chapter never would've gotten written without your support <3

**Author's Note:**

> this was about 80% typed on my phone bc the charging cord for my laptop broke and the new one isn’t in yet so pls be gentle about like... formatting and typos. do tell me if you see issues tho! 
> 
> be sure to lemme know what you all think! ( ˘ ³˘)♥


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